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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985814">Bubblegum Bitch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/guilt_is_for_mortals/pseuds/guilt_is_for_mortals'>guilt_is_for_mortals</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexuality, Cheating, Childhood Friends, Dancer Reader moves in with the OT4, Drinking, Drunken Kissing, F/M, Female Reader, Getting Together, Jealousy, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Not Beta Read, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, So much 20-something-angst, but they somehow make it work, they are not okay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:28:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,954</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28985814</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/guilt_is_for_mortals/pseuds/guilt_is_for_mortals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You were Bokuto’s best friend when you were young but got into different highschools. You never really lost touch, but it’s been a while. Now, in college, you return from a year abroad in Europe and Boktuo offers you to move in with him and his boyfriends until you’ve got your own place and things settled…</p><p>---</p><p>Aka the 5 times you fell a little bit in love with the OT4 and the one time you realized that they might have fallen, too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei/Reader, Akaashi Keiji/Reader, Bokuto Koutarou/Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader, Tsukishima Kei/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>186</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Introduction - Sinners</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yes, this is absolutely self indulgent. </p><p>In this you (Y/n) are Bokuto’s childhood friend and study to become a dancer. You return from a year abroad to study in Tokyo and move in with the boys.</p><p>Note: Everyone here is in their early 20s and clearly not okay, as none of us are that age. There will be drinking, some cheating and lots of 20-something-angst. Though this is not as fluffy as most of my other fics (please mind the tags) this will end in the best possible way, I promise! (I can not not write happy endings).</p><p>Have fun!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Oh sinners come down </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Come gather 'round </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Have a little fun before they put us in the ground </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Yeah-eh-eh </em>
</p><p>
  <em> --- </em>
</p><p>“Hey hey hey! Anyone want to come with me to the station to pick up Y/n-chan?” Bokuto almost fell over a volleyball on the livingroom floor, trying to fit his arms into the right holes of his jacket. He knew he was already somewhat late. It was the day his childhood best friend would finally arrive, but none of his boyfriends seemed to even remember. He was <em> sure </em>he had told them about it.<br/><br/>“Y/n-chan?” Kuroo asked, brow furrowed and barely looking up from his notes. He had to write an important test soon. As smart as he might be, university had proven to be smarter than him more often than he liked and he was midway into a studying session. <br/><br/>“Oh, that was today?” Akaashi lifted himself off of the couch to look for a jacket. Someone who was definitely not him, had their turn with cleaning duty - and apparently decided to skip on it. The room looked like utter chaos. “Yeah, I’ll come with you.”<br/><br/>“Yes, that was today. I even noted it down in the calendar that <em> you keep bugging me about using, Akaashi! </em>” Bokuto half-yelled at him, but the black haired man simply gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, a fond smile playing on his lips<br/><br/>“Yeah, I know. I forgot about that; I’m sorry. Let’s go get your friend, alright? Kuroo, I’m asking Tsukki to pick up some take-away on the way home, you alright with that?” Akaashi had found his jacket, made sure he had his keys and phone with him and opened the door to their apartment.<br/><br/>Kuroo, who was already back deep in his notes, perked up with a grin as he heard the words <em> take-away </em> . It was not the grin Akaashi was used to. He worried about the shadows under his boyfriends eyes, the ever full coffee cup next to him.<br/><br/>“Of course I am! I’ll let Tsukki know… I wonder if he’s living in the library by now rather than here.” <br/><br/>Akaashi closed the door shut and for a few moments — which was rare, when Bokuto was near — there was silence between them.<br/><br/>“Tetsurou is… not himself lately,” Akaashi mumbled, the first to speak. Koutarou took Akaashi’s cold hand into his, stroking it with his thumb comfortingly and nodded. <br/><br/>“I know. It’s bugging him that he failed that course, he’s not used to that. But it’ll be fine this time, I am sure, he’s so smart!” Bokuto grinned at him and Akaashi found it hard to think negative thoughts when he was hit with that full power of optimism. <br/><br/>“I guess you’re right, yeah. So, tell me more about your friend!”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/><br/>You were patiently waiting for Bokuto to arrive to pick you up at the station. You usually were not the best with waiting and keeping still, but you had just flown halfway around the world from Europe to Tokyo. The only things keeping you awake were a triple espresso in your hand and your headphones puncturing your soul with music. <br/><br/>You had known Bokuto — or Kou-chan to you — for as long as you could remember. You had played together as toddlers. You had taught him how to ride a bike, he had taught you how to climb a tree. When you went to different middle schools and finally different high schools you never fully lost contact. It was no constant texting or weekly calls, but you stayed in contact. Even when you went to Europe to study dance - your big passion - you would comment on each other's social media and chat occasionally. He was a comforting constant in your life.<br/><br/>Now you are back in Japan for your last few semesters. Back in Tokyo. Without a room or a job to be able to afford one, the thought of coming back had not been as happy as it should have been. You had missed the city and your friends, but as you were without support from your parents, it also scared you.  <br/><br/>Two days after you told Bokuto you were going back to Japan, he had offered you a place to stay as long as you needed to sort out your life in the city. You would move in with him and his three boyfriends, which, to be honest to yourself, didn’t lessen your nervosity about the whole situation. What would you do if they didn’t like you? What if Bokuto had changed in the years you’ve barely had contact, sometimes for months? What if they would throw you out on the street after a few days because they found you annoying? What if-<br/><br/>“Y/N-CHAN! HEY HEY HEY!” Your thoughts were all but erased as two strong, muscular arms wrapped around you and pressed you against an equally muscular chest. Bokuto’s hugs still felt the same as back then, the familiar smell and warmth. You hadn’t really realized up until now, but you had missed him. You had really missed him a lot.<br/><br/>“Kou-chan!” You beamed up at him. Had he grown since last time you saw him or was it just the added muscles, the width of his shoulders that made him seem taller than you remembered? <br/><br/>“<em> Kou-chan? </em>” There was another young man behind Bokuto, with dark hair and the face of an angel. One eyebrow raised and the hint of a smirk on his lips he looked at you with some interest. You felt your cheeks starting to burn under this man's gaze. <br/><br/>“I mean, I can call you just Bokuto if it’s-"<br/><br/>“Don’t you dare change my nickname!”<br/><br/>“Oh, please don’t, this is going to be way more amusing this way. My name is Akaashi Keji. It’s nice to meet you.” So this was the first of the boyfriends. Bokuto had told you about them. Akaashi was his first love, the one he got together with in highschool. Looking at the dark-haired man, you could absolutely understand how Koutarou had fallen for him.<br/><br/>“It’s very nice to meet you, Akaashi-san. I’m Y/n,” you introduce yourself with a smile and shake his offered hand. <br/><br/>“Please, just Akaashi is fine. I mean, we’re going to live together for a while, aren’t we?” You just nodded. Maybe this would turn out fine. Bokuto seemed to have not changed at all, bubbling on about how happy he was to see you, about his practise this morning, about how they were getting take-out from their favourite restaurant and all this while carrying your pretty heavy suitcase. Akaashi seemed to be as quiet as Bokuto was loud, but it was not the cold kind of silent. <br/><br/>You made your way to their apartment without any noteworthy incidents. It was a nice building in a nice part of town - even though three of them were also still going to university, they all worked and Bokuto, as a pro volleyball player, made enough money for them to survive comfortably. <br/><br/>“I’m pretty sure Tsukki is home from the library by now and Kuroo told him to get some food, so we’ll have dinner soon! I’m sure you’re hungry, Y/n-chan!” You actually had been hungry up to the point where he mentioned the other two boyfriends. Right, you weren’t done meeting new people for today. While Akaashi didn’t seem to hate you on the spot, you couldn’t be sure what the others thought of you. <br/><br/>“We’re home! Kuroo, Tuskki, come meet Y/n-chan!” <br/><br/>The first thing that crossed your mind was that they were huge. Bokuto and Akaashi both were a few inches taller than you, but the two men who came stumbling out of a room into the entrance way were even bigger. They looked suspiciously like they were just caught making out, though. Their blushy cheeks eased your nervousness a tiny bit. <br/><br/>“H-hello, Kuroo-san, Tsukishima-san,” you greeted them, shrinking under their gazes. Especially the blonde one, the tallest of them all, looked at you with an air of cold indifference. The other, whose hair stood from his head as if the blonde had just buried his hands in it, started to grin at the sight of you. For a moment it was intimidating, until he started to laugh in the dorkiest way. <br/><br/>“You must be Y/n, it’s so nice to meet you, even though all of us kinda forgot that you’d arrive today…” He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “I’m Kuroo, just call me that, and that’s Tuskki.”<br/><br/>“Tsukishima,” the blonde one corrected his boyfriend, as if it would ever cross your mind to call that intimidating man something as cute as <em> Tsukki.<br/><br/></em>---<br/><br/><br/>The first evening with your new roommates went better than you had dreaded. You still were nervous, but Tsukishima had not only brought food, but some beer, too. After a nice meal and somewhere into your second can of beer, you felt quite at ease talking to the guys. <br/><br/>They told you about themselves, their courses at university and their jobs. You told them about Europe, about dancing and how you would make sure to find a job soon and a place to live. That last topic was met with all four of them — even Tsukishima — reassuring you that you could stay as long as you needed to. <br/><br/>“Alright, I need to go to sleep now, who also needs to get up early?” Akaashi stood up and stretched. It caused his shirt to ride up a little, exposing pale skin and a hint of nice abs. <br/><br/>“I need to get to the library as early as possible - in the afternoon people tend to think that the library is a place for coffee dates and karaoke parties.” Tsukishima looked extremely grumpy, as if he had actually encountered someone singing in the library.<br/><br/>“Oh, I get to be the little spoon tonight, lovely.” Akaashi didn’t care about his boyfriend's angry face. He simply took the blonde’s hand and they both disappeared in the bathroom to get ready for sleep. <br/><br/>“That means me and you, bro!” Kuroo winked at Bokuto, who winked right back at him. <br/><br/>“You really all just switch through? Doesn’t that feel strange, not having… a bed that’s really <em> yours </em>?” You were genuinely interested in how they made this relationship work. <br/><br/>“Yeah, at first it takes a bit of getting used to, but the reward of falling asleep next to any of those dorks here is worth it.” Kuroo explained, emptying his can of beer. <br/><br/>“We mostly time it after who needs to get up when, or who has a need to cuddle or just needs someone in particular that day. I don’t think anyone ever got jealous so far, did we?” Koutarou added. The door to the bathroom opened again and Akaashi and Tsukishima entered one of the bedrooms. You tried to shake off the mental image of them cuddling together in a bed. Or kissing. Or... more.<br/><br/>“Don’t be too loud if you stay up for much longer, please. Good night!” Akaashi told them before closing the door behind him. It wasn’t long though, before Bokuto and Kuroo also decided to go to sleep and you were glad - it had been an exhausting day, even after napping through most of the flight. <br/><br/>When you finally crashed onto the couch that would be your bed for the foreseeable future, slightly buzzed and not yet quite aware that you really were back in Tokyo, you smiled. It would all be okay, living with four guys. Four guys who were in love with each other. Four guys who all were quite nice. And pretty handsome. Really hot, actually, if you thought about it. <br/><br/><em>Well… Fuck. </em> </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p>
  <em> Dancing on cold feet </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Marching on cobble streets </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Oh sinners come down, yeah-eh-eh </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Yeaaah, I must be good for something </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Bokuto - Just Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You take Bokuto with you to a dance class.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!<br/>I am back with another chapter!<br/>(I hope there aren't too many mistakes, my usual beta-readers don't watch Haikyuu.)</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos or comments!</p>
<p>I was a little unsure about posting this story and if anyone would like to read it,<br/>so it makes me so happy to hear that you enjoy this fic!</p>
<p>Have fun!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Not ready, I get it </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Don't want complications, you gotta focus on yourself </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> You cancel, no worries, it's all good </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> No hurry, your heart belongs to someone else </em>
</p>
<p>---<br/><br/>Five days. It took all but five days for you to fail your mission to just quietly live with Bokuto and his boyfriends until you found a place to stay. Five days.<br/><br/>It started out like a pretty normal day in this patchworked household. Bokuto got up very early every day to get to morning practise. Fascinatingly, he was pretty quiet and only woke you up accidentally twice, because you were sleeping on the couch in the open living space. Akaashi would be next, and you would get up after he was done in the bathroom. You’d share a coffee in complete silence, both glad that your quiet mornings weren’t disturbed through the other. Kuroo and Tsukishima both were not seen before 9 am and if they had morning classes, they only sometimes found the will to get out of bed for that.<br/><br/>At noon you would be alone in the apartment. As there were only a few weeks left in the semester and you had done your courses in Europe already, you only had dance classes in the afternoon to stay fit, none of the theoretical lectures. You knew you should have used the time to go find a place of your own or a job, but you had taken a few days to get used to being back. They all said that there was no hurry in you moving out, and if you were honest with yourself, you really liked being here and being with them. <br/><br/>For now, you were content with cleaning the place, stretching and dancing for yourself in the afternoons and preparing dinner for the guys. You'd fallen into a nice routine over the last few days. Even the overwhelming presence of four hot guys around you had lessened to a background thought. Of course there were the moments when someone left the bathroom with only a towel on that made your heart stop - but you mostly weren’t as fucked as you thought you’d be. Until today.<br/><br/>It was early afternoon and you were stuffing your workout clothes and shoes into a gym bag to attend an actual dance workout class at your university. You were about to grab your jacket when you heard someone open the front door. <br/><br/>“Y/n-chan, are you still home?” Bokuto stood right there in the entrance, his eyes searching for you. You wondered why he didn’t see you, until you realized you were crouched down behind the couch, just out of his line of sight. When you stood back up, quickly as most of your movements were, you startled him and almost sent him falling back over his own feet. <br/><br/>“Hey, Kou-chan, yeah, gotta leave in a few minutes, though, to go to a class. What are you doing here so early?” Most evenings Koutarou came back late for dinner, because they were training late. <br/><br/>“Coach’s caught a cold and sent us home. We don’t really have another match all that soon, so he told us to take two days off and just do some workouts until he’s fine again.” Bokuto sunk onto the couch with a moping face. Everything about him just dropped, even his hair deflated for a moment. You knew a lot about his mood swings - he had always had them as far as you could remember back. Something about ADHD and serotonin levels and sensitivity to rejection. You also knew that a lot of people ridiculed him for that back in middle school. It had never bothered you much, as there rarely was a moment when you weren’t able to cheer him up again.<br/><br/>“Oy, why the long face, hm? What's so bad about a few days off?” You climbed onto the couch next to him, crossing your legs under your body. There was a saying about queer people and not being able to sit right in a chair and you just fit the stereotype. <br/><br/>“Training alone is so <em> boring, </em> Y/n-chan. Kuroo sometimes goes to the gym with me on those days, but it’s just not the same as practise, you know?” You mustered your best friend for a moment, considering the options you had. Even now his hands and feet were never really still, fidgeting. You could almost feel the pent up energy inside him. <br/><br/>“Hey, how about you come with me to dance practise today?” you suggested. <br/><br/>“Dancing? Does that really count as a workout?” Your eyebrows shot up. You’ve had your fair share of sporty dudebros telling you that your university course was not <em> real sports. </em> You just never thought of Bokuto being one of them. But then again, it was Bokuto. Kou-chan. He probably simply had never danced as a workout before - and why would he, playing volleyball all day, every day.<br/><br/>“I’ll show you how much of a workout it is, come on, pack your gym bag, I’ll not take no as an answer.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“Hey, Y/n-san, who’s this?” The instructor for the additional afternoon classes - a guy named Yuri - gave both you and Bokuto a look up and down. There was a strange expression on his face and he once again looked at your best friend. Did he recognize him? Maybe he watched volleyball?<br/><br/>“It’s my best friend, the one who lets me stay at his flat while I get my life sorted out, I told you about that,” you answered with a smile. People in class had been excited to meet you and asked a lot of questions. You had not told anyone about Bokuto’s “roommates”, of course. They had told you on that first evening that, even if they didn’t keep it a close secret, didn’t just tell anyone about their unconventional relationship situation. <br/><br/>“He has never been to a dance class before and wanted to see how much of a workout it is.” Now the eyes of all of your classmates were on him, with new interest. You could see Bokuto gulp, eyes huge like an overconfident owl who had got himself surrounded by wild cats. Yuri’s smile mirrored yours, wide and a little dangerous.<br/><br/>“Oh, well, then you should show him, Y/n-san.” Yuri finished tying up his shoelaces and straightened his back. Walking over to the stereo he added: “You’re lucky we’re learning a new choreo today, Bokuto-kun, let’s see how you can keep up.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Bokuto did… well enough. When the first few beats of the kpop song filled the room you knew you were in for a treat. There were a lot of new steps and practise, a lot of shaking ones booty and it didn’t even take fifteen minutes to get you all sweaty. Koutarou did well enough with remembering the steps, but he surely never learned how to move his body with rhythm. He was all hard muscles and ready to hit balls all day every day. <br/><br/>Admittedly, though, his slightly clumsy dancing didn’t stop you from watching him. His body moving, his shirt clinging to his broad shoulders, him shaking his hips to the beat… you were pretty sure he caught you staring at least twice, but he never said anything about it. If only, it seemed to motivate him even more. You had achieved your goal, cheering up Kou-chan while you both were getting a work out. His blinding grin was worth all. There was no need for you to feel the way you did inside right now.<br/><br/>The tingling sense in your stomach wouldn’t stop with the music, though. You tried your hardest to not watch the single drop of water running down his chin and his throat as he gulped down some water. It was not right and you should just look away before he would-<br/><br/>“Hey hey hey, Y/n-chan, I feel great now, this was amazing!” He threw a sweaty arm around your shoulders and dragged you towards the changing rooms as if he knew the place. <br/><br/>“This was such a workout, I really should tell the team to also do this once a week, it would definitely improve our agility, don’t you think? All that moving and shaking and things - oh, or I could keep it a secret and use it to get even better than all of them, haha!” He kept talking and you let him ramble on, enjoying his enthusiasm and that he was having fun with the thing you enjoyed most in life. <br/><br/>“I’m gonna text the group chat and tell them we’re not coming home for dinner, it’s way too far home and I am <em> starving </em> and there was a konbini close by, so-<br/><br/>“We’re gonna get food and sodas and talk all night in a park?” There it was again, that overwhelming smile. You thought back to this favourite tradition from when you were young. You would take what little pocket money you had, sneak out to get ice creams and talk all night while sitting on the swingset in the park. Thinking about it now, your parents probably knew about what you were doing and just didn’t say anything. But back then, it felt like it was you and Kou against the rest of the world. <br/><br/>“That was exactly what I was thinking, Y/n-chan, get showered quickly, please! I can’t wait!” <br/><br/>In the end you were the one who had to wait for him, as it had so often been the case. But that just gave you the opportunity to watch him come out of the shower with only his towel on, bending over while drying his hair… you were used to seeing people in the changing room. The people you studied with were all used to getting close to each other while dancing and it made you lose the awkwardness in changing rooms after a while. It probably was the same for him, of course, he spent so much time training. And yet… with him, it was different.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>“So… are you slowly feeling like you’re back? Must be strange, right? Hinata also was abroad for quite a while and he said it took him a lot of time, no matter how happy he was to be back.” Kou’s wide eyes looked at you directly, pupils wide in the dark, making him look even more like an owl than he did normally. <br/><br/>You had already finished your food and were both balancing a can of soda between your thighs, sitting on a swingset you found in a park close to the konbini. Bokuto had insisted on finding one, for old times sake. You hadn’t really had time to catch up, just the two of you. It felt special and nostalgic and you were really glad you had asked him to join you today.<br/><br/>“It’s… yeah, it’s strange,” you answered after a while. “I mean, it’s really nice? I missed you a lot, Kou-chan, and I missed Tokyo, but… yeah, it’s strange being back.” He smiled at you so genuinely that you had to avert your eyes, looking down at the soda-can in your hands. Your cheeks started to feel warm. <br/><br/>“I missed you, too, Y/n-chan! Hey, remember when we were young-” He emptied his soda and put it on the ground next to his bag. Then he began to actually sway on the swingset, the chains creaking under his weight. <br/><br/>“Let’s see who can jump further!”<br/><br/>“Kou, we’re gonna both break some bones trying to do this, we’re not ten years old anymore!” you tried to protest, laughed - and joined him anyways. <br/><br/>“I’m a professional volleyball player, a little jump like that won’t hurt me at a- aaaall… ouch!” <br/><br/>“Kou-chan, are you okay?” You watched him fly through the air and fall into the grass. He didn’t get up, just lay there…  you slowed down your own swinging and did more of a little hop to land and sit down next to him. He started to laugh at your worried face and pulled you down into a tight hug. <br/><br/>“Of course I am! I told you I wouldn’t hurt myself!”<br/><br/>“I was still worried, though,” you mumbled into his sweater. He smelled nice. Your cheeks burned. You detangled himself from his arms and let yourself sink back into the grass, lying on your back, looking up into the sky. <br/><br/>Bokuto next to you did the same. Sadly, you almost never see the stars on a city sky. <br/><br/>“This is what I missed the most,” you admitted, your voice low, but you were sure that he could hear you. <br/><br/>“I missed you a lot. Ever since we went to different high schools, I think… I had the biggest crush on you back then.” You smiled to yourself. You were not completely sure what made you admit that to your best friend and nowadays roommate. But then, you were sure he knew, he must have known since forever.<br/><br/>Bokuto turned on his side to look at you, unusually solemn for a moment, before another grin split his handsome face.<br/><br/>“You were my first crush, too, Y/n-chan.”<br/><br/>“I was?” You turned to face him, realizing a little late too just how close you were to him now. You tried to look away, but his eyes were on you, capturing your gaze, rendering you unable to move. <br/><br/>“Of course you were.” And then he kissed you. It was an almost chaste kiss, your lips touching without any tongue or urgency. You kissed him back as if you were allowed to. As if it was the most natural thing in the world to feel his warm, slightly chapped lips on yours. <br/><br/>It should have changed everything, but it didn’t. You kissed and then you continued talking. You walked home and went to bed - you alone on the couch, Bokuto next to one of his boyfriends. <br/>It should have changed everything. <br/>What did it say about you both that it did not?<br/><br/>---</p>
<p>
  <em> Maybe I don't wanna be just friends </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> See you only on the weekends </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Sorry, hope you understand </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> I like you a little too much for that </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, this turned out a little hornier than I thought it would.</p>
<p>I really hope you enjoyed.<br/>If you did, it would mean the world to me if you left kudos or a little comment! &lt;3</p>
<p>There now will be a chapter for each of our volleyball dorks to come - next one up: Kuroo!<br/>(Updates will be coming every 3-5 days!)</p>
<p>This chapter's song: Just Friends by JORDY</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Kuroo - Maybe, I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An evening out in town with Kuroo.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here we go again!</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos or comments!<br/>You motivate me so much to keep on writing!</p>
<p>Have fun!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Maybe, I'm a total wreck </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> So drain my blood until there's nothing left </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Maybe, I won't repent </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Live a lie and let the vultures in </em>
</p>
<p>---<br/><br/>The next <em> incident </em> happened about two weeks later. Kuroo, who had been completely absorbed by studying for his chemistry test the entire time since you’ve been there, finally had his big exam that he had been so nervous about. It was his last test for the semester, and even though both Akaashi and Tsukishima had to get up early and study the next morning, they all decided to at least go out for a while to celebrate. <br/><br/>Living with them was fun. Yes, they all were quite busy, but you also were used to living on your own and it was just the right amount of people around you. And the <em> right </em> people around you. You slowly got to know more about them. You found out that Akaashi loved to eat and was the designated cook of the group. You discovered that Tsukishima had a not-so-secret love for dinosaurs, which was the most adorable thing in your eyes. You found out that Kuroo drank a lot of coffee - black as my soul, Y/n -, made a lot of bad chemistry puns and else spent pretty much all of his time on his desk or in the library - though the latter was probably due to that awful test.<br/><br/>“I hate this professor so much. He is… he prides himself in how difficult his tests are and how fail rates are high - guess what, maybe that means you’re just not good at teaching people?!” Kuroo had yelled in the morning, shortly before leaving for his exam. Everyone but you and Bokuto had already left. The two of you just let him yell for a while. Sometimesyou just had to scream at the world and let it all out. Bokuto kissed Kuroo for good luck as he left, and you hugged him and pressed a bento-box in his hands.<br/><br/>“Don’t forget to eat, when your stomach is empty your head is, too!” Both guys laughed at your words and Kuroo left, a brave knight to fight in the battle of the elements.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>At night you were - all five - somehow squeezed onto an old, yellow couch a little bar a few streets from the apartment. It was Kuroo’s favourite place, where the music was loud, the drinks cheap and sometimes singer-songwriters would play live. No piece of furniture matched the other, even the cups and glasses were just used as they came. It might have felt a bit strange to drink a fruity cocktail out of a flowery coffee mug, but it also fit your group. Mashed up and thrown together, maybe not matching from the outside, but somehow working out just fine. <br/><br/>“Hey hey hey, let’s dance, come on Akaashi!!” Bokuto grabbed the other by the hand and dragged him to his feet - Akaashi made a grumpy face and mumbled something you couldn’t understand over the loud music, but he followed his boyfriend onto the tiny dancefloor. You were pretty sure that, had Akaashi not wanted to dance at all, he would still be sitting here. <br/><br/>Kuroo, far into his third drink, couldn’t stay still for much longer and soon after the two of you  followed Bokuto and Akaashi onto the dancefloor, dragging Tsukishima with you. The blonde had only had one drink and his face looked even more unimpressed than it usually did, but you could somewhat understand his lack of enthusiasm today - the rest of you were drunk while he had to get up and study for a test tomorrow quite early. <br/><br/>You let yourself be taken away by the music and the pleasant, buzzing feeling of alcohol in your system. You danced with all of them and anyone around you who wanted to, losing your track of time and place for a while. It was just you, the bass and the occasional hands on your shoulders or hips. <br/><br/>At one point you felt someone dancing quite close up from behind you, causing you to spin around, ready to yell at whoever invaded your personal space like that - only to realize that it was Kuroo, who stood right in front of you, smirked and handed you another drink.<br/><br/>“It’s just me, sorry, had no hands free to make you notice me,” he replied to your raised eyebrow, to which, you had to admit, he had a point.<br/><br/>“Thank you! And no worries, you’re one of the few people allowed to dance with me like that,” you answered with a grin and a wink and took the glass out of his hand without stopping to sway your hips in the rhythm of the music. <br/><br/>“Where’s the rest?” You had to basically yell to ask him. Once most people had started to leave the sofas to dance, the music had been turned up louder so conversation was difficult. <br/><br/>“Home! Tsukki left hours ago, he needs to get up early and all and Akaashi is getting Bokuto home… he had a shot or two too many. They also were making out a lot so… no need for us to get home all too soon.” He laughed while your cheeks burned at the mental image of Akaashi and Bokuto getting busy at home...<br/><br/>“Just us two, then.” The people around you made you press up pretty closely to Kuroo. His face was unreadable as he looked at you and took another sip of his drink.<br/><br/>“ <em> Yeah </em> ,” he then answered with a strange intensity and got closer. “I want to dance some more.” <br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It was almost 4am when you stumbled out of the club and onto the neon-lit street. The spring air was still cool at night and you shivered a little, already missing the stuffy heat of the dancefloor.<br/><br/>“Want one, too?” Kuroo managed to get out of the door after you and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. <br/><br/>“You smoke?” You knew he was an athlete just as Kou was and you had never seen him with a cigarette before. <br/><br/>“Only when drunk… and when the others can’t yell at me for doing it. Apparently it makes my kisses taste bad.” He laughed, his very own hyena laugh and offered you the open box of cigarettes. You were too drunk to really care and it wouldn’t be the first time you took a few drags at a party. He lit his own, handed you the lighter and you slowly made your way home. <br/><br/>Your hands shivered as you lifted the gleaming cigarette to your mouth. Why had you not thought of bringing a ja- just in that moment, something heavy was draped around your shoulders and you looked up at Kuroo with big eyes, his arms now bare. He had given you his jacket without saying a word. <br/><br/>“You are less of a bad boy than I thought you’d be, Kuroo-san.” You buried yourself in his jacket, smiling to yourself. It smelled like his deodorant and slowly started to warm you through and through. <br/><br/>“What on earth made you think I was a bad boy?” He looked at you with his signature smirk, obviously confused but also flattered.<br/><br/>“I don’t know, this smirk right here? The hair, the cigarette, the fact that you keep up with those three boyfriends of yours? You’re pretty… badass, you know?”<br/><br/>His laugh carried a sad undertone and you stopped in your steps to turn and look up at him. <br/><br/>“I wish I was what you think of me, Y/n,” he answered quietly.<br/><br/>“I try to keep up with them, but I’m not sure if it’s enough. I take care of them as best as I can, I really try, because they have so much to offer and I… I’m a chemistry nerd. I don’t have Tsukishima's brains, Akaasi’s creativity or Bokuto’s talent. I’m just me.” Maybe Kuroo was just a sad drunk, but this seemed to have been going around in his thoughts for longer than just a depressed moment. <br/><br/>You slowly placed your cigarette-free hand on his and looked up into his golden eyes. <br/><br/>“Kuroo, I know we’ve only just met but… this week I’ve seen you studying for hours and you still took care of everyone. You made sure Tusikishima ate enough when he forgot while studying even though you had so much work yourself. You still joked around with Kou-chan and cheered him up when he had a sad phase and you ordered and replaced that not bright enough lamp on Akaashi’s desk because he said his eyes hurt when he concentrates on drawing…” Kuroo’s eyes were on you now, and you paused for a moment in your words, not knowing how to express your thoughts the right way. <br/><br/>“You are... so nice and thoughtful with them and you take such good care, Kuroo, please don’t have doubts about that. To me it feels more like you need someone to take care of you, too.” <br/><br/>There was a moment of heavy silence between the two of you. His eyes mustered your face, searching for something. What, you didn’t know. Too late the implications of your words truly reached your conscious thoughts and you were about to take a step back and apologize when Kuroo’s hand grabbed yours, dragging you closer. <br/><br/>“Will you take care of me?” It was barely a whisper. Your heart skipped a beat and then began to hammer against your chest. Your eyes dropped down to look at his lips. <br/><br/>One moment of silence, a nod of your head and then… then there were hands on your shoulders, your back against a cold wall and Kuroo’s hot mouth on yours. There was nothing shy or sad about him anymore and you felt your entire body burning. Your hands found a way into his hair. He tasted like alcohol and cigarettes. <br/><br/>The sun rose to greet a new day as you made out with Kuroo Tetsuro in a neon-lit side street somewhere in Tokyo. <br/><br/>---</p>
<p>
  <em> Maybe, I </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Will make a mess of me </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope you enjoyed!<br/>If you did, it would mean the world to me if you left kudos or a little comment! &lt;3</p>
<p>There now will be a chapter for each of our volleyball dorks to come - next one up: Tsukishima!<br/>(Updates will be coming every 3-5 days!)</p>
<p>This chapter's song: Maybe, I by Des Rocs</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Tsukishima - Bad Guy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tsukishima helps you with your dance practise</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am going to hell for this, friends :D</p><p>I'm sorry this chapter is a little late, uni and work have me collapse face down in my bed every night...<br/>But here you go with the next chapter - it's time for Y/n to spend a little time with Tsukki!</p><p>I promise they'll talk about things in the end, but like... feelings are strange and confusing little gremlins.</p><p>Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos or comments on the last chapter!<br/>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Bruises on both my knees for you</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't say thank you or please</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I do what I want when I'm wanting to</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My soul? So cynical</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>---<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>While the kiss between you and Bokuto hadn’t changed a thing in your dynamic, the way you and Kuroo acted around each other after the kiss did. There was no years-long friendship and deep trust between the two of you to save you from your mistake. No, your dynamic with Kuroo changed. The others didn’t seem to notice and you were sure he hadn’t told them about it, else you would probably be sitting somewhere on the streets of Tokyo with your bags right now. But you could feel it. Something had changed and you knew that you deserved it. You were not mad at Kuroo for talking to you less, for saving his smirk and laugh for his boyfriends, not for you. You tried to write it off as a drunken mistake - but you couldn't lie to your own heart. It hurt everytime he ignored you when you both were home.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>You just buried yourself in dance practise and stayed out of the house longer, made sure to mostly be there when all four of them were around. No way for awkward silence - or worse, talking about what had happened - if the others were close by. You also started to look for a job and a place of your own much more actively now. This was your best friend and his partners. They took you in when you had nowhere to go and this was how you thanked them? By… by… seducing them? No, it was time for you to go and get a grip. It wasn’t even like you to be this way. People generally seemed to like you, but you were never one of the popular girls that got date after date. You very much prefered to </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>something for someone when kissing them. So why was everything different with these guys? There was no way to just fall in love after a few weeks, right? And with… multiple people.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>Dancing had always helped you to relax when you were angry at the world and yourself. The current “classic with a twist” type of dance you had to learn was just the right thing to get you moving. Deep bass and dark lyrics surrounding you while you had to concentrate on exact movement and stretches cleared your mind of all other thoughts. It was a bit hard practising without a partner when you weren’t in class, but as the one person to come late to the semester… everyone had already teamed up with their partners for the year. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>It was okay though. It would be fine. It would all be fine after the summer, after you sorted out this mess. You had to stop being so melodramatic about it. You had fucked up, but that didn’t mean that you couldn’t do the right thing from now on, right?<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>The back of the couch was a little too low to be a good support for bending over backwards, but it had to do. Eyes closed to concentrate on your steps, you arched your back and prepared for falling over when the sofa just wouldn’t come and reach your back.  Then a strong arm met your waist and held you up just the way you needed. Someone pulled you back up into a standing position. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>Eyes fluttering open with surprise, you saw Tsukishima standing right in front of you, his face unimpressed but his warm golden eyes intense with </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>- was he angry at you?<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Do you have any idea how distracting you are?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he hissed into your ear in a way that made you stumble a step back. You would have fallen over the couch if not for Tsukki’s arm around you to hold you. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Where are you going, hm? I thought you were practising.” You had no idea what you had done to him, but he seemed so angry that it almost scared you. It definitely sent a shiver down your spine. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“I… I was, I’m sorry, I can use headphones if the music’s too loud, they just slip off of my head easily when I-”<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>Tsukishima looked at you as if you didn’t get the joke. He was right about that - you absolutely didn’t understand what his problem was and this was not funny. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Keep dancing.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I can’t concentrate with you dancing like this and it’ll take much longer if you dance without a partner. I can do this partner thing just fine.” He said it matter of factly, his face void of any emotion. It still took you a moment to realize that indeed, Tsukishima Kei, salty and ever so slightly scary Tsukki, wanted to help you practise dancing.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“I-”<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“This offer will stand for exactly five seconds more, so you better start moving again, Y/n.” Even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t have been able to say no. Not that you had any intention to say no. There was something very much intriguing about this situation. Tsukishima clearly masked it as anger, but he also could have just yelled at you to shut up and you would have left the apartment in a minute. This was something else and, as you had learned over the last few weeks - you were not as good a person as you’d like to be. So you quickly took your phone, restarted the song and began to dance again. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“I didn’t peg you as someone who can dance,” you murmured, more to yourself, but you were sure Tsukishima heard it, because you could feel his presence right behind you. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Why would you know if I am a dancer or not, we met not three weeks ago.” You spun around to look at him, his hand keeping you steady. None of you stopped to move. You were able to multitask just fine, talking and dancing wouldn’t be a problem. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“You’re right, I guess I don’t really know you all that well. But I will write </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tsukishima-kun knows how to move his hips </span>
  </em>
  <span>down in my mental notes, I promise.” The way he looked down at you - the look behind his eyes inscrutable and the tiniest hint of a smirk on his lips - made your insides tingle. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“So, you’ve got me in your mental notes? All the mean things I’ve said to you? Some pretty pictures?” His face was back to his blank mask of indifference, but you weren’t hurt by a bit of sarcasm and a sharp tongue. You scolded yourself, this was not a good moment to think about Tsukishima’s tongue. Actually, no moment was a good moment for that. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Oh, you know, I’m just a woman after all. I see a guy coming out of the bathroom with only a towel on, I can’t help but look.” <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>His perfectly calm face flickered for a second. There was something in his eyes as he tried to remember if he ever ran into you only wearing a towel. He had not, sadly, but you enjoyed the moment where he couldn’t be sure about it. Your eye contact broke when you spun around again, the song had changed to something a bit faster, something that made you swing your hips a little more. How did you end up in a situation like this? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Again</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Somewhere up there must have been a deity either very angry at you - or very clumsily trying to get you laid.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“I’m sure you would have liked to see that, but I think you remember that just from your imagination. Or sweet dreams, maybe.” His hands were on your waist as he supported you on a jump. Your top had slipped up a little and his warm fingers dug into your naked skin.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Well, Tsukishima-kun, your imagination must be running wild, too… with how </span>
  <em>
    <span>distracting </span>
  </em>
  <span>you find me, apparently.” Moving down into a low pose while looking up at him, you couldn’t help but tease him a little. He was the youngest of them all, younger than you, but his height and snarky behaviour made him seem older than the rest most of the time. It was fun to see his cheeks burn and his composure crumble for once.<br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>Tsukishima pulled you back up again, taking both your hands into his to spin you until you were encased in his arms, his face so close to yours that you could feel his breath on your ear. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Of course you are distracting. In your tight dance clothes, with your hips and singing and moving and eating popsicles in an obscene manner. How am I supposed to concentrate on my studies? Do you want me to fail?” He released you from his grip before you could answer, but his words echoed in your brain. Were you actually distracting? Were your clothes too fitting? You tried to remember the day that Akaashi bought popsicles and how you and Kou had jokingly licked on them a bit… suggestively. It had been innocent fun, right? You had forgotten about it already, but Tsukishima seemed to remember it quite well. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“I’d say I’m sorry… but I’m not,” you answered finally, deciding that it was not </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>fault if Tsukishima liked your butt in your dance leggins. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>You could feel him dancing closer with the music, felt his heat against all of your back. So close. Then his lips were on your neck, hot and wet, kissing you. You stopped still, almost freezing in place. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“W-What are you-?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Distracting you.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” You could hear his voice low and dangerous against your skin, so close to your ear. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Keep dancing, or our practise will be over.” You considered it for one moment. You should stop. It would be the right thing to do, to stop this now and have Tsukishima disappear back into his room to study. There was no excuse this time of it being a childhood crush, no excuse of you being drunk. And yet you started to move again, feeling his grin and then his teeth on your neck. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>You were by now convinced that there was a hot and terrifying cell in hell with your name on it, just waiting for you to arrive. It was only a matter of time before they would talk about what happened. Your friendship with Kou and the rest of them already was a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode. Why did you keep doing this? Why did it feel so... </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice</span>
  </em>
  <span>? <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>Thankfully there was a pause in between two songs and in that moment of silence you heard the rustling of keys, the turn of a lock. You detached yourself from Tuskishima at once, jumping over the couch to pick up your phone and stop the music. When the door opened and Kuroo and Akaashi came in, Tsukishima already was at the door to his room. Nothing about his behaviour would have let anyone know what just had happened. You even wondered if you had just imagined it, until his eyes met yours. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Distracting</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he mouthed silently at you with an intense look, then slammed the door shut behind himself. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>“Hey, Y/n-chan! You look a bit disheveled - learning a new dance?” Bokuto came in right after his boyfriends with some grocery bags in his hands. They all smiled at you, happy to see you. <br/>
<br/>
</span>
  <span>You were so fucked. </span><br/>
<br/>
<span>---</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So you're a tough guy</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Like it really rough guy</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just can't get enough guy</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm the bad guy, duh</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope you enjoyed!<br/>If you did, it would mean the world to me if you left kudos or a little comment! &lt;3</p><p>There now will be a chapter for each of our volleyball dorks to come - next one up: Akaashi!<br/>(Updates will be coming every 3-5 days!)</p><p>This chapter's song: Bad Guy - Billie Eilish</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Akaashi - Had Some Drinks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akaashi finds you drunk on the balcony.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>... I couldn't stop writing because I needed to know how this chapter would turn out,<br/>so here you go, after only two days, because I am weak and Akaashi is Akaashi.</p>
<p>Note: There's more drinking in this chapter and y/n takes an aspirin before drinking.<br/>DO NOT DO THIS IN REAL LIFE, I beg all of you, never mix pain meds with alcohol!!</p>
<p>Thank you so, so much to everyone who left comments and kudos!<br/>I love all of you, you are amazing!</p>
<p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>I've been around, brought you down, it's true</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I had some drinks and said some things to you</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If I said too much, I know you're mine to lose</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I had some drinks and said some things to you</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>It was an understatement to say that you were not okay. After the Tsukishima incident you decided that the faster you were able to move out the better. Sadly Tokyo was big, loud and </span>
  <em>
    <span>expensive </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the job in a coffee-shop you got didn’t even pay enough for a shoebox of an apartment. So you still were there, with these boys who had royally messed you up.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>It wasn’t just that they were hot, no, that you could have ignored or even enjoyed just as a fact, but they all were… nice. Funny. Genuinely good people, much unlike you in the last few weeks. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>liked </span>
  </em>
  <span>them, all of them. And it was a problem.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>So when the next night out came closer, the Friday night after Tuskishima’s last big test, you declined the offer to come with them. They tried to convince you of course, but you told them you had a headache and a bad night of sleep the day before and so they left you in the apartment. Not without making sure you had water, an aspirin and that there was food in the fridge, of course. They really had to stop being so nice to you, it was not like you deserved it. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>You took the aspirin and opened a bottle of wine, washing it down with too full a glass. You didn’t really want to think tonight, you just wanted to be sad in peace. There was a pack of cigarettes in your bag and you took them, a lighter, the wine and your phone with you outside onto the tiny balcony that belonged to the apartment. The night was warm and smelled of summer.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>You sank down onto the floor next to the plastic chair, disappearing against the wall just to stare down into the city. Somewhere down there were your roommates, dancing and partying. Three of them were carrying a secret, because of you. Were they secretly glad you hadn’t come along? Glad that you weren’t there to make them… </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheat</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The word tasted bitter on your tongue and you took another big sip of wine.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>How had all of this not yet ended with you being kicked out of the apartment? You could see it playing like a movie before your eyes: Tsukishima throwing your bags after you while Bokuto told you that he never wanted to see you again, Akaashi and Kuroo silently watching. But they wouldn’t do that. They were, after all, much better people than you were. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>You all were in your twenties - why did people in highschool act as if you would have your life all sorted as soon as you started college? Compared to the last few weeks, you had been an angel in highschool. You were sober, had good grades and did not kiss your best friend. And his boyfriends. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Uhhhhrg, what is wrong with me?” You took another big sip of wine, straight from the bottle next to you on the wooden balcony floor. You decided to just let the night pass by this way, thinking, while staring into the abyss. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Somewhere in a pause between two songs you had realized what was wrong with you. You had a big, big crush on them. You were falling in love, hard and fast, no parachute opening to save you and you were rushing towards the ground at lightning speed. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Shhhhhh- don’t wake Y/n-chan,” you could suddenly hear Akkashi’s voice, while Kuroo and Kou were giggling about something apparently hilarious. You hadn’t really fallen asleep, but you were buzzed and only half paying attention to the world around you, when the lights went on in the living room behind you. They were back. It all felt a little hazy.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Oh, I’m so sorry, Y/n-cha- oya?” Bokuto was, and you could feel that even out here, very drunk. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span><br/>“Oya oya?” Kuroo didn’t seem to be much more sober. A smile crept onto your lips. How much you wanted to go inside and help to put them in their beds, make sure they had water and an aspirin for the morning. You wanted to take care of them just like they had taken care of you before. But it wasn’t a good idea to see them now. Being drunk around them had led to a quite wild make-out session already. Your cheeks warmed at the memory of Kuroo pressing you against the cold wall of some sidestreet next to his favourite bar. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“She’s not here, Akaaaaaashi! Where is Y/n-chan?” <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I’m sure she’s okay, Koutarou, maybe she just needed some fresh air. I’ll be looking for her once you’re in bed, okay?” That was Akaashi, ever the voice of reason. Although that wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>entirely </span>
  </em>
  <span>true - you had seen him get very silly when he was in the right mood and with his boyfriends. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Alright… ‘m tired.” <br/><br/></span>
  <span>You listened to the sounds of them going to bed and lit yourself another cigarette. There were some quiet </span>
  <em>
    <span>I love you</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s said that made your heart hurt with guilt. Then, startling you even though you should have noticed his shadow, the balcony door swung open and Akaashi stepped out to look for you.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>His feet were bare and he wore dark jeans and a very oversized hoodie that probably belonged to Bokuto. His face was tired and he wore his glasses. He was gorgeous. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“There you are.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Here I am,” you answered and patted the spot on the floor next to you with your cigarette-free hand. He silently agreed to your invitation, sinking to the ground next to you. You handed him the bottle of wine without looking up - he took it from your hands and took a big sip. You said nothing for a while, but silence between you and Akaashi never felt wrong. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“You know, when Kou started to… talk about adding Kuroo and Tsukishima to our relationship, I was against it at first.” You had no idea how much time had passed, but suddenly Akaashi spoke. You raised your eyebrows but said nothing, wanted him to keep going even though your heart was racing. He was not one to talk about feelings often.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I was… so </span>
  <em>
    <span>jealous</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The thought that I could not be enough. I… I love all three of them, now,  but I couldn’t really understand at first why Koutarou would like to kiss someone else. And now…”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>His eyes drifted off to the city lights, he got lost deep in thoughts. Then his head suddenly turned back to look you directly in the eyes. His beautiful, beautiful eyes.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“You know I’m the only one of us who’s never kissed a girl?” The change of topic startled you and you took a while to reply, choosing your words as thoughtfully as you could after drinking half a bottle of wine.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Well… you’re…  that’s… that’s just how things are, I guess? You don’t need to kiss a girl, ever, if you don’t… want to, you know.” This conversation was taking a dangerous turn that made your heart flutter. You should not even think about kissing in close proximity to any of those guys, much less talk about it.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I thought so, too… I never thought I’d feel the way about girls the way I do about guys... but why is it then, tell me, that I want to kiss you so damn much, Y/n?” There was anger in his voice now, at you or at himself you were not sure. It took you a moment to register what he had just told you. Your insides turned to ice the same moment they were lit on fire. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Maybe you just… maybe you… it might be that you think it’s terrible… maybe you should just...” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Try it, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you wanted to add, but didn’t. You tried to keep cool about it, tried to not flip out. Had you not destroyed enough already, hadn't you fucked up bad enough? Did you really need to offer to kiss your best friend's first love? Did you really need to complete this terrible set of mistakes? <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Maybe.” It was barely a whisper. He was way too close.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Akaashi’s lips were incredibly soft against yours. Your head was buzzing, you were hot and cold and you couldn’t find it in you to stop him or yourself. Your hands found their way into his hair - </span>
  <em>
    <span>also very soft</span>
  </em>
  <span> - and his cool fingers traced along your jaw and neckline. Out of all the kisses it was the most innocent and yet it set you on fire. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>When you parted, both of you leaned back and sunk against the wall. An eternity passed before Akaashi broke the silence.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I think I might like kissing girls.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>No more words fell between you that night. You emptied the bottle of wine, passing it back and forth, your fingers lingering on the others each time. A cigarette was shared, then another. You knew you would regret that in the morning, when your voice would be rough. You would also regret each of the kisses you and Akaashi shared that night, no matter how good they felt. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Bokuto and Kuroo woke you the next morning when they found you, your head against Akaashi’s shoulder, both fast asleep on the balcony.</span><br/><br/>
  <span>---</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I think too much, I'm outta touch, it's true</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't give a fuck, yeah actually I do</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If I said too much, I know you're mine to lose</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Don't give a fuck, yeah actually I do</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really hope you enjoyed!<br/>If you did, it would mean the world to me if you left kudos or a little comment! &lt;3</p>
<p>Next chapter will be the last one - y'all finally talking about stuff like real adults, I'm so proud. <br/>(Updates will be coming every 3-5 days!)</p>
<p>This chapter's song: Had Some Drinks - Two Feet</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Bubblegum Bitch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You all - finally - talk about it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It... is done. <br/>Ohhh boy, I am emotional right now.</p>
<p>I want to thank all of you who commented and stayed with this story.<br/>Thank you for reading and leaving kudos and motivating me to keep on writing.</p>
<p>I really hope you'll enjoy the last chapter. <br/>Have fun with your happy ending, friends &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>I'll chew you up and I'll spit you out</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>'Cause that's what young love is all about</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So pull me closer and kiss me hard</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm gonna pop your bubblegum heart</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Kuroo watched you as you danced around the kitchen in the twilight of a rainy day, focused on cleaning and doing the dishes. You had your headphones on and didn’t seem to notice him, humming to a song, sometimes even singing along with it. Your bare feet must have been freezing. There was a newspaper on the table, some of the adverts marked with colour - you were still trying to find your own place. Kuroo didn’t want you to leave. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>He wanted to tell you that it wasn’t necessary. That you could just stay here with them, that you could have one of the beds or just share with them. That he didn’t want you to go. Kuroo had felt guilty after the kiss, after that night in the alley, the drunken make-out session. He woke up the next day with a hangover and no idea how to talk to you about it. How should he tell you that you somehow had wormed your way right into his heart with your bright eyes, sharp mind and kind words. That it was more than just a kiss for him. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>He told Tsukishima about it, on a rainy afternoon just like this. Him and Tsukki both had in their earlier teenage years thought of themselves as straight, until they noticed the bond between them being more than just friendship. They both had been with girls before, knew how good soft curves felt under one’s hands and how a woman could straight up make you lose your mind.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Tsukki said that it was okay. That he understood and that it would change nothing about his feelings. Kuroo didn’t deserve Tsukki, he didn’t deserve </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He spent an afternoon with his face buried in the crook of Tsukishima’s neck, his boyfriend's arms holding him close and warm. They decided to not tell Bokuto and Akaashi about it, for now. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, dear diary, I met a boy…” <br/><br/></span>
  </em>
  <span>Kuroo was torn from his memories when you started to sing along with the song you were blasting so loudly in your headphones that he could hear the melody over to the bathroom door in which he was currently standing. He watched the way your lips curled into a sad smile at the words. Kuroo couldn’t help but wonder if it was him you were thinking about. No, he shouldn’t be wondering that. He shouldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>hoping </span>
  </em>
  <span>that. Still, he did.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Tearing his eyes from you, trying to distract himself, his eyes fell onto the door to the bedroom he and Tsukki shared most often. Said salty blonde stood there looking directly into his eyes, and then back towards Y/n with a small smirk on his lips.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>He made my doll heart light up with joy...” <br/><br/></span>
  </em>
  <span>You continued to sing along, and Tuskishima frowned at the memories the song brought up. After Kuroo had talked to him about that night when he kissed you, the thought wouldn’t leave Tsukishima’s mind anymore. Of course he had noticed how pretty you were from the start, he was not blind, but he had filed that thought somewhere in his brain and forgot about it. Until Kuroo’s confession, a confession that made Tsukishima lie away at night, imagining the two of you kissing, himself watching. Maybe joining. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>It was distracting, especially when he should have been studying, but it was only an underlying, buzzing sensation of annoyance, nothing too bad. And then you were dancing alone in the living room, just as he was about to get some coffee. That day he decided to fuck it all and give in. If Kuroo got to taste your lips, why shouldn’t he? Was it not just a fair thing to do? <br/><br/></span>
  <span>You had asked for help with your dance practise before and he always declined, of course he did, he had better things to do then to be your living dance pole. You hadn’t even bothered to ask for help this day, knowing only he was home. Tsukishima was sure you had noticed that he had a lot to do, and you never bothered him more than necessary. A feature that some of his boyfriends had still not acquired after multiple years of dating. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>There was something about the way your ass felt against his hips when he held you, the way you looked at him when he spun you around and how you still found the time to reply to his snarky comments with just as much salt. He couldn’t resist tasting your skin, kissing you, imagining all the things he wanted to do to you while you were here, alone, in his arms. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Of course they had been disturbed and he fled the scene of a crime that didn’t feel like one before he could say anything about it. Not that he minded much - he had never been a person to “talk about it”. It had always been his partners to drag him along, to light up his own </span>
  <em>
    <span>doll heart</span>
  </em>
  <span>. First Kuroo, back in training camp. Sneaking out after lights out to make out against the gym wall had felt like the only thing that matted at the time. Then Bokuto had been the one to suggest they all tried dating, after they lived together as two separate couples for half a year. Tsukishima might have felt the way their dynamic had shifted, yes, but he wouldn’t have been the one to talk about it. He never was. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Was this a similar situation? Judging by the look Kuroo gave him, he concluded that the answer was yes. He hoped someone would drag him along into this. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Both Kuroo and Tsukishima turned their head silently as Akaashi opened the door to the second bedroom, dressed in workout clothes and about to leave for the gym. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his boyfriends staring into the living room, both half hiding behind their doors. His gaze followed theirs and he couldn’t help but smile at the picture of you dancing through the kitchen without noticing them. The smile faded quickly, though, when he noticed your mood change as you quietly sang and he was able to make out the lyrics.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, dear diary, we fell apart…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Akaashi felt like falling when he was with you. He remembered that night on the balcony, his first time kissing a girl. How you had known to say nothing at all after, because words would only have made the situation worse, no matter which words. It wasn’t okay. They weren’t okay. He had lost his heart somewhere along the way and even though he knew that he was able to love multiple people at once, it was scary to live through it again. That phase of discovering new feelings.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>He had left them once, for a week, when Bokuto wanted to get together with Kuroo and Tsukishima. Akaashi had so many confusing feelings twirling inside of him, but the only ones that he was sure about, so terribly, unconditionally sure, was that he loved Bokuto. So he left, for seven days. Kenma took him in. Him and Hinata, his by now fiance, knew Akaashi well enough to give him the time and space he needed, not allowing any of the three others to visit. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>They fell apart and they set themselves back together. It took Akaashi three days to realize that it was okay if Bokuto had feelings for others as long as he still loved him, too. It took him five days to admit to himself that his own feelings for Tsukki and Kuroo might not be just friendship. It took him seven days to come back. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Now the three of them stood in this hallway, watching some new finding a way to their hearts. Would they fall apart again? Was there any chance for them to survive this? Akaashi had thought about telling his boyfriends about the kiss. He had tried to bring up the courage, but something held him back. What if they would fall apart for good? What if this time, </span>
  <em>
    <span>they </span>
  </em>
  <span>would leave </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>?<br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <em>
    <span>“Welcome to the life of-”</span>
  </em>
  <span> <br/><br/></span>
  <span>The door to the apartment swung open and Bokuto entered with a happy: “Hey, Hey, Hey!” on his lips. The picture unfolding in front of him surely was a slightly bizarre one. There was Y/n, dancing with her headphones on and singing along to a song while almost smashing the dishes. There was Akaashi in workout clothes, frozen in place and apparently completely lost in thoughts. There was Tsukishima, whose eyes were wide, as if caught doing something wrong, staring at Bokuto. And then there was Kuroo, who was looking at all of them, his signature smirk growing on his lips. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Bokuto took a moment to try and figure out what on earth was happening here. Since you moved in, his life had only gotten even better than it had been before. He had reconnected with his childhood best friend and crush. He had talked to you about said feelings - finally - and watched you grow closer with his boyfriend. All the people he loved most in this world, together in one place, close to him. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>Now though there was something in the air, a strange feeling that he couldn’t fully grasp but that was much less positive than the last few weeks had been. His boyfriends had already been staring at him like deer in headlights and now Y/n noticed that she was not alone in the living room. She took off her headphones, her eyes wandering from Bokuto to the rest of them.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Kou-chan-”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I think we all need to talk,” he interrupted her with a smile. “Can I have everyone on the sofa, please?”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>There was a very awkward minute of silence while you all sat down on the couch, no one meeting the others eyes. This must be the moment, you realized, the moment where they would tell you that they found out about what you’d done and would kick you out. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I would like to know what’s going on here.” Bokuto finally broke the silence. “I thought you all are getting along well, but there are strange… vibes in here and I don’t know what happened, but we should talk about it.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>No one said a word, but now looks were shared between Akaashi and Tsukishima, Kuroo glanced at you, then Akaashi’s eyes met yours and a silent conversation appeared to happen between Kuroo and Tsukki.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Maybe I should start,” Bokuto decided. He still seemed happy, still smiling. You allowed yourself to feel hopeful for a second. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I recently discovered that Y/n-chan had a crush on me back when we were little, just as I had on her and that those feelings might still be there, somewhere. I wanted to talk about it when you weren’t all… whatever is going here, but, I want to talk about how you would feel…. about adding Y/n-chan to our relationship. Because I kissed her… in a park.” Bokuto’s smile and confidence seemed to deflate slowly when no one interrupted him, everyone just continued to stare.<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“After we fell off a swingset… and I might… i'd like to do it again.” <br/><br/></span>
  <span>There was half a moment of silence - then all of you started to talk at the same time.<br/><br/></span>
  <span><br/>“We made out on the way home from the party after my chemistry test.<br/></span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“We kissed on the balcony that one time.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I think if you hadn’t interrupted me I would have very much seduced Y/n while dancing.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I am pretty sure that I am rapidly falling for all of you and I don’t know what to do.”<br/><br/><br/></span>
  <span>Your eyes burned with tears as you spoke those words out loud, finally. You had kept all your feelings in and to yourself, you had hated yourself so much for doing what you did and now it was all out in the open. Four pairs of eyes were on you and after the first tear fell onto your cheek, there was no holding back anymore. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>You started to sob. It was all too much, way too much and you didn’t know how to handle this new information. A strong pair of arms wrapped around you - Bokuto, you would have recognized him any time - and slowly, when there were no tears left in you, you looked up to see your best friend smiling at you softly. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“So… I guess what I was trying to say is that… I… we would very much like to date you, Y/n-chan.” You detached from his arms slightly, to look at the others. You had to make sure that they really were on the same page. Kuroo winked at you with a huge grin. Tsukki smiled at you with a softness in his eyes you had not yet seen before. Akaashi gently wiped the tear stains from your cheeks. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Are you… you really are sure?” you asked. It was hard to believe that these four amazing guys would be into you of all people. The evidence was right in front of you, but you had to hear it from them. You had to be sure that it would all be okay. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Of course we are.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“Definitely.”<br/><br/></span>
  <span>“You’ll be a lot less distracting if I don’t have to act like you are not.”  <br/><br/></span>
  <span>---<br/><br/></span>
  <span>Of course the talking wasn’t done with an afternoon snuggling on the couch. In the following weeks, as you slowly settled into your new role as a girlfriend, there were many discussions to be held, boundaries to be set and rules to be made. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>But oh, was that all worth it. You were in love and your feelings were returned. And while love was messy and feelings were complicated, you felt deep in your heart that this was exactly where you belonged. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>“I really love you all, so, so much,” you whispered one stormy evening, cuddled up in between your boyfriends on the couch. In the flurry of hugs, kisses and confessions of love that followed your statement, you knew that, right here, you had found your home. <br/><br/></span>
  <span>---</span><br/><br/>
  <em>
    <span>I'm Miss Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm Miss Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm gonna be your bubblegum bitch</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter's song: Bubblegum Bitch by MARINA</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, here we are.<br/>This is the first chapter and more of an intruduction to what's about to happen - I really hope you enjoyed.<br/>If you did, it would mean the world to me if you left kudos or a little comment! &lt;3</p><p>There now will be a chapter for each of our volleyball dorks to come - first one up: Bokuto!<br/>(Updates will be coming every 3-5 days!)</p><p>This chapter's song: Sinners by Barns Courtney</p></blockquote></div></div>
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